As most students know, District 155 has a new attendance policy this year that limits students to five excused absences per semester (not counting five additional excused days per year for mental health reasons) instead of the nine they were allowed in previous years.
This policy change has bothered students who had planned vacations or college visits during school days (those used to also be excused in addition to the nine general excused days per semester), and as we get close to the end of the semester, it is challenging students who have simply racked up absences.
While the change may be unpopular with students, it stems from previous years’ attendance issues, and is an attempt to decrease what Dean Slattery refers to as “chronic absenteeism.”
This phrase is used to describe students who miss more than nine days of school per semester – excused or otherwise. In previous years, the district’s nine parent-excused absences were actually allowing this chronic absenteeism to occur, a statistic that Cary-Grove is attempting to improve.
In fact, Dean Slattery said some improvement has already been made. Through the policy change and some other incentives, such as free popsicle days in October and hot chocolate coming up in December, monthly attendance has increased around 1.6% in September, with a seemingly upward trend.
In addition to addressing attendance concerns, the district eliminated college visit days and vacation days to allow for greater equity among Cary-Grove families. Dean Slattery said that not all families can afford or take time off of work for vacations, including trips to colleges.
“We were making [the system] as equitable as possible, and not equal, but equitable,” he said. “There’s a difference there, and we’re making sure that we weren’t rewarding people that had a higher means to do extra things.”
This means that as much as the district would love for students to explore their futures and take breaks, it simply isn’t fair for certain students to be allowed time off simply because they have the means to. Put plainly, the district does not want families “buying” their students extra absences.
Dean Slattery said those students were “getting extra days just because [they had] a little bit more financial stability.”
To level that playing field, Cary-Grove hosts college representative visits, a very underappreciated tool offered in the College and Career Center that can be used to substitute for a campus visit.
As the district is exploring ways to improve attendance, Dean Slattery acknowledged a reason that students may struggle to get to school on time: our early start to the day.
CG’s 7:25 a.m. start time is one of the earliest for a high school in Illinois. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends high schools start at 8:30 at the earliest to accommodate teen students’ developmental needs.
The district’s reasoning for our rather early start has to do with our fellow Crystal Lake elementary school district, as well as extracurriculars. Not only does District 155 share buses with District 47, but we also need time for after school activities.
Though it can be argued that activities could meet before school, this would defeat the purpose of a later start time. Additionally, with less time after school, some clubs and activities might be less efficient in the long run. Some activities would have to run later, once again defeating the purpose of an earlier start time.
Not all hope is lost, though. Dean Slattery said there is a “strategic plan committee that’s actually looking at our schedule,” working towards building a proposal for altered schedules, prioritizing later start times, with research to back it up.
In the next few years, the district may undergo changes in the number of minutes in a single class period, the number of periods in a day, and, most notably, the schools’ start and end times. With these changes, it is very possible that students’ grades and attendance rates will increase, as this trend has been seen with many schools that switch to having later start times.
Though not everyone is happy with the changes the district has implemented regarding attendance and absences, there are real reasons behind these changes. With Dean Slattery’s insight, it has become clear that the district’s priorities truly lie with the students. The goal is to prevent chronic absentees. No matter how these changes present now or in the future, one thing is certain: change is possible.